October 5, 2009

It's the influence of his wife. He's been a vegetarian for 10 years, but his original idea of being a vegetarian was something I can really identify with. (I was a vegetarian for about 5 years a while back.) He thought: root beer and potato chips.

Yes, you know there are so many things you can eat and still be vegetarian. Most of the great snacks: ice cream, chips, candy, cookies. And all the great drinks: soda, fruit juice, beer, wine. It's only healthy if you make it healthy, which you may be less inclined to do if you're being gnawed at by that deep innate hunger for meat.

But if you can get a highly motivated, food-smart spouse to take care of you and control what food and drink arrives at your table, vegetarianism might work well. And you'll just have to take her/his word for it that sauerkraut is important or whatever crazy food theory she/he believes is true.

There is a trend among rich men in their 80s who have married a younger woman to have their diet controlled by the young wife who derives a credibility for her keeping them alive and in health right up to that final illness which comes anyway at that age. What that means is beyond my pay grade, but it may counter some of the hard feelings of prior family members who are disinherited by that last wife's reign. Meat like lamb and beef in small proportions are good for old people, but the idea of controling death by diet is a common enough hope like Ted Williams Head gives a hope of something too.

When I was in college one of the dorm cafeterias had a (relatively) wide variety of vegetarian and vegan options, and some of the vegan desserts were really quite good, though I still preferred things baked with milk and eggs. I could live as a vegetarian, but I wouldn't want to. I would really miss things like the delicious hamburger I had last night. Or holidays in general.

It is not just that. It is also giving up meat broth and fat to cook with. There is an old canard that says "Why do vegitables taste so awful when cooked by vegitarians and so wonderful when cooked at a steakhouse?". If you can't use butter and broth and fat to cook with, your food is going to be tastless mush.

Even if it does make you healthy, which I doubt, who wants to live longer if it means looking as worse for wear as Imus does.

I once had an in-depth discussion about vegetarianism and cheese, and whether "fake" rennet was truly non-animal. (For all you non-Dairy staters, and those who might not know: Cheese production usually requires rennet, which is obtained from the stomach of cows.)

Apparently, it is, although I'm still not exactly sure why. Maybe I should've gone to the World Dairy Expo here last week and found out.

There is no need to eat just raw vegetables to qualify as vegan. In fact many types of vegetables are not easily digestible unless they are prepared. We don't have the guts of gorillas which can process raw fibers.

"If you give up milk and eggs, it's really grim."

I have nothing against vegan eating, it's good: just against the holier than thou preaching vegan converts. We often have meatless meals consisting of pasta and vegetables but to completely give up eggs and dairy products is just silly. Your body needs the proteins and oils from those sources.

BTW: Sauerkraut IS ALWAYS raw. It is raw fermented cabbage. Unless they mean they don't eat kraut that has been canned. In which case it is partially cooked to reach a level to prevent bacteria.

One of the reasons why we are able to have such large brains is becuase we can cook things and make them easier to digest. That means we spend less energy digesting and more thinking and maintaining large brains. Radical vegans would literally have us living in trees again.

It's important to remember that vegans feel less conflicted about dairy products when the cows have been raised in an envrionment that includes cowmats.

Indian restaurants prepare some really great vegetarian meals. Could I live on them for the rest of my life? No. I just don't feel healthy unless I have some salmon, chicken, or beef a few times each week.

I've had some really awesome Indian vegetarian food, but it's the only vegetarian food I can recall actually enjoying. Of course it was not vegan, since Indian food with ghee (clarified butter) and paneer (cheese) would be, well, sad.

I think it is very hard to eat properly on a vegetarian diet, and nearly impossible on a vegan diet. We need protein, and not just any old protein, but certain amino acids in certain combinations that meat delivers. We also need certain fats that cannot be obtained from vegetables (seeds and nuts, yes -- veggies, no.)

A loaf of bread, a jug of wine/beer and a day of rest would be about right for a near starvation vegan. But eating the flesh of animals is protein empowerment for all activities that require strength and mental toughness. A friend told me that the Rib-Eye Steak is the favored Kosher cut of beef in Hasidic circles. So keep on raising those cows all of you graduates of the TCU School of Ranch Management.

Vegans who watch what they eat generally don't have any greater health problems than a meat eater, it's the people who eat only raw food who seem to have crossed the line as far as what people are capable of living off of.

Humans are versatile food-wise, especially when plant species from the entire planet are available.

"it's the people who eat only raw food who seem to have crossed the line as far as what people are capable of living off of."

Anthropologists claim that cooking food is what allowed humans to develop large brains and make the leap above other primates. Eating only raw food is just insane. That type of veganism ought to be catagorized as a mental illness

Yes, an occasional vegan dish can be good, but when you *are* a vegan, it's all you ever can have. More lentil soup?

I put sage sausage in lentil soup when I make it. No vegans will eat it. :(

The college I went to had so many vegans that vegan selections, many created with student recipe input, were available at every meal. I often tried them out. They were not bad, but I never found them as good as the regular food. There was always this sense of the food missing something.

I love all vegetables except radishes and I can live without lima beans. I could easily be a lacto/ovo vegetarian. But man I love the taste of pork, beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, German hard salami, BACON! There are not many things that can't be made better with a little bacon or butter.

A friend came to dinner with his teenaged son. The friend warned me that his son was a vegan. I did a little research and came up with what I thought was an appropriate meal. Not so much. I made the mistake of using honey, and the young twit lectured me on the evils of "exploiting" bees.

I'm no vegetarian, but the one cafeteria contractor we had was so bad that the Gardenburger was the tastiest item to come off their grill.

And I agree with dbq: "raw" sauerkraut is really just cabbage. But the alsatians have the right idea with their "garnished" sauerkraut: if you put enough sausage, pork, onions, and maybe mushrooms in it, sauerkraut is a right tasty dish.

I think it was in Notting Hill that the Hugh Grant character has a blind date with a vegan who won't eat anything that was picked. Because if the fruit hasn't fallen from the tree naturally, it's murder. She'll only eat "dead" fruits or vegetables.

Ah, thanks to IMDb here it is:Keziah: No thanks, I'm a fruitarian.Max: I didn't realize that.William: And, ahm: what exactly is a fruitarian?Keziah: We believe that fruits and vegetables have feeling so we think cooking is cruel. We only eat things that have actually fallen off a tree or bush - that are, in fact, dead already.William: Right. Right. Interesting stuff. So, these carrots...Keziah: Have been murdered, yes.William: Murdered? Poor carrots. How beastly!

I made the mistake of using honey, and the young twit lectured me on the evils of "exploiting" bees.

This is when I lecture a young twit on the evils of complaining about the food they are served.

I spent considerable time and energy in making this dish to make you feel welcome in my home. I'm sorry you feel the need to find fault with it. Perhaps the next person serving you will do things perfectly. I rather doubt it. Then you turn to the teen's parent and with a great big smile ask Would you like more wine?

Like the paste its name suggests, commercial pasta is made from just flour and water.

Regarding vegan lentil soup: Just one time I ate split pea soup at one of the famous chain of California tourist traps, Pea Soup Anderson's (seen in the movie Sideways). It was damn near tasteless, so I couldn't figure out what made the place famous.

I realized that, unlike all the split-pea soup I had ever had, there had been no hambone in it.

What exactly is the hierarchy in a vegetarian meal? All the dishes, or ingredients in the dishes, are equal. In a normal meal the centerpiece, the dish that all the other dishes circle, the acme is the beef or fowl or fish. Vegetarianism denies this natural hierarchy.

DBQ, that recipe sounds delicious (although the instructions talk about onions and mushrooms that aren't listed in the ingredients?) but I'll note it's not vegan if you saute in butter and then add parmesan or romano cheese when serving -- and I bet it's a whole let better with that parmesan than it would be without it.

In other news, over the weekend I made a fantastic cheese sauce with butter, garlic, heavy cream and asiago cheese. My 12-year-old son loved it so much he ate extra broccoli so he could have more. Giving up such pleasures forever would be a very difficult sacrifice for me, and since there's no upside to it at all, why should I? Saturated fat is actually good for your liver.

I don't know how he does it, gas-wise. I mean, gas is uncomfortable and painful. For him. All those raw veggies produce a lot of it, making the gastrointestinal system work hard to bust up the little buggers and pass them on through the system. Lots of gaseous, noxious by product. Only one way for it to go, too.

I eat raw sauerkraut almost every day. It contains beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus. If it is pasteurized - it won't contain this and is fairly devoid of nutritional value. Raw or unpasteurized sauerkraut is always kept in the refrigerator.

There seems to be lots of misconceptions about a raw food diet. Our bodies depend upon the enzymes in raw food to give us life. If we cook food, we kill it and must eat more to get the proper amount of nutrients.

Mr. Imus is likely trying to halt or reverse his prostate cancer - which was likely brought on by consuming animal products of some sort. Regardless of health, one more likely to get certain kinds of cancer if one consumes animal products. Even top athletes get cancer - think Lance Armstrong - I'm pretty sure he's not vegan.

Although, it is unproven that animal products causes prostate cancer - have you ever heard of a person with a vegan diet contracting prostate cancer?

Ruth Heidrich was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1982 at age 47. Today at age 74, she competes in triathlons. She never had any chemotherapy or radiation for her metastatic breast cancer. This all due her switch to a raw vegan diet.

I've personally been mostly raw for about 5 years now, (2/3 of my calories come from raw vegan food). Since this time, my health has improved, I've not gotten sick at all and I feel better and have more energy at all time of the day.

If you can get by what other people think of you - I think this is the biggest obstacle to being vegetarian - then you will be the healthiest, most productive person you can be health-wise.

If you can get by what other people think of you - I think this is the biggest obstacle to being vegetarian - then you will be the healthiest, most productive person you can be health-wise.

Good for you. More power to you. I'm glad you feel well.

What I object to regarding the vegan lifestyle is that many feel the uncontrollable need to preach at the rest of us, proselytise, nag and otherwise make themselves irritating.

Kind of like the reformed alcoholic or born again Christian. Good for them. Leave the rest of us alone.

Being Vegan is a personal choice for you and no one should stop you. Eating that rib eye steak last night was my choice and harping at me about it just makes me want to shove the half of the steak that I didn't eat up someone's nether parts. Except that it was too good to waste and made a great steak sandwich for lunch.

What I object to regarding the vegan lifestyle is that many feel the uncontrollable need to preach at the rest of us, proselytise, nag and otherwise make themselves irritating.

I think it works both ways. When I told my friends that I was vegetarian they got very defensive about it thinking it was something they had done. They then chastised me about my decision. I merely had mentioned that my eating habits had changed.

I'm not an vegan or an activist, (I'm a strict vegetarian/raw foodist) but I do work within the vegetarian community to spread the message when I can. If it's health one is after, a raw vegan diet is best and can help avoid diseases of affluence.

Family and friends listen to what one has to say. I care about my family and friends and want the to be as healthy and happy for as long as possible. If this is the cure to cancer and I'm not telling them all the information I know, then I'm not being a friend.

If I don't do this and one of my friends gets cancer and I don't then they might think why didn't I get it and so on...

Being sick/getting cancer is very conter-productive, stressful and a total waste of time. If we can avoid this and spend our time and energy on more happy pursuits we would all be better off.

The 'vegans' only want you to listen to what they have to say - they aren't asking you to change. Once I was one of the people that thought they were a nag - yes, things you don't want to hear are irritating. Just listen with an open mind.

Ruth Heidrich was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1982 at age 47. Today at age 74, she competes in triathlons. She never had any chemotherapy or radiation for her metastatic breast cancer. This all due her switch to a raw vegan diet.

Are you sure that it does not have anything to do with her visit to Lourdes?